This Isn’t Bowie’s ‘Labyrinth’

That David Bowie film from 1986 and Labyrinth , the forthcoming miniseries from the CW may share the same name, but that’s about all they have in common. Apples and oranges, folks. Apples and oranges.

The Bowie flick plays out like a fairytale. After saying some ugly things to her younger brother (we’ve all been there), 16-year-old Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) goes on an adventure to rescue him from Jareth, King of the Goblins (Bowie, below). She is given 13 hours to solve several riddles before he turns into a goblin forever. And along the way, she meets a few quirky strangers, avoids the King’s advances, and finds a little courage. It’s about growing up, being thankful for those in your life, and the fight to remain a kid at heart when you’re entering a new phase of your life. No one liked it — until everyone did. It flopped at the box office, but became a cult hit in later years.

Labyrinth, the miniseries, on the other hand, is steeped in mystery, and revolves around the Holy Grail —or rather a book that details what or who the Holy Grail really is. It was created in 2012, and is just now making its way across the pond with the story of two different women, Alice Tanner (Vanessa Kirby) and Alais Pelletier du Mas (Downton Abbey's Jessica Brown Findlay), who despite living in two different time periods are seemingly linked together by the Holy Grail.

Alais lives in 13th-century France and belongs to a religious group called the Cathars. At the height of a crusade, she gets the responsibility of hiding away a book full of weird symbols from a group of religious zealots whose intentions aren’t initially clear. Alice exists in the present day, and is working at an archeological dig in the French Pyrenees when she stumbles across artifacts that appear to be connected to the Holy Grail. The discovery links her to Alais and she begins to have visions of Alais’ life, and discovers secrets that were meant to remain hidden forever.

The two-day special, which kicks off on Thursday night, boasts an impressive supporting cast. John Hurt, Tom Felton, John Lynch and Sebastian Stan will all appear on the show. The CW isn’t really known for this type of fare, but the network has recently jumped into the historical fiction genre with Reign. The intended audience for Labyrinth is decidedly adult. Also, the pace is rather slow and you might want to brace yourself for Labyrinth’s anticlimactic ending.

Images: Sony Pictures Entertainment